The reliever had played in the major leagues from 1984-1990, including five seasons with the Dodgers and two with the Phillies. Following retirement, Howell coached for several years in the Dodgers' organization. He is also a link to the magical 1988 championship team that we all so fondly remember.

And, just to demonstrate how much the pitching game has changed over the last 30 years, the linked article notes that Howell appeared in 245 games over the course of his career, recording an ERA of 3.95, with 31 saves. Most telling is that "he led the Dodgers in 1986 with 12 saves."

May he rest in peace._________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

What horrible news that was out of the D.R. yesterday that former Angel Luis Valbuena was killed in a car accident.

May he rest in peace._________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

What a sad story and to have him die so young! I enjoyed watching him play._________________"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

Former major league pitcher and coach Mel Stottlemyre has passed away at age 77, after a battle with bone marrow cancer. All 11 of his major league seasons (1964-1974) were spent with the Yankees; he served as pitching coach for both the Mets (1984-1993) and Yankees, as well as the Astros and Mariners, calling it a career in Seattle in 2008. In both New York stints as a coach, he mentored several accomplished pitchers who contributed to championships.

(DB6 note: Oddly, his decade-plus playing career in the Bronx took place during the Yankees' first "down" era, winning no World Series. However, he did end up with three world championship rings in his decade with the NYY as pitching coach, from 1996-2005.)

May he rest in peace._________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

It was announced today that Peter Macgowan has died. This news sent shock waves through the Bay Area.

I have also neglected to mention the passing of Eli Grba last week.

May they rest in peace._________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

Former Pirates pitcher Bob Friend passed away at age 88 on February 3.

May he rest in peace._________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

Former Padre Kevin Ward has passed away at age 57. He died on Saturday at home in Coronado, following a battle with cancer. The outfielder spent two years in the major leagues, both with the Padres (1991-92).

May he rest in peace._________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

Yes, thank you for posting that, Linda. _________________"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

It's been a busy week for passings of former players, as they "come in threes", and three took place this week.

Former major leaguer Leroy Stanton passed away on March 13 at age 72, as the result of a car accident in South Carolina, where he lived. The multi-talented outfielder played for nine seasons in the majors, beginning with the Mets, followed by the Angels (1972-1976). His final stint was with the expansion Mariners beginning in their inaugural season, 1977. Stanton retired the following year.

And this from the L.A. Times:

"Ransom 'Randy' Jackson, the Oldest Dodger and Last to Homer for Brooklyn, Dies at 93"

By STEVE MARBLE
MAR 21, 2019 | 5:05 PM

Ransom "Randy" Jackson, pictured with Jackie Robinson, earned his spot in Dodgers lore with a three-run homer in 1957. He didn't realize it until a trivia question decades later on "Good Morning America."

It was late September, and the Dodgers’ season was slipping away.

For Jackson, it had been a disappointing year. He was brought in to take over for the aging Jackie Robinson, but injuries had kept him on the bench for much of the 1957 season.

Called to the plate in Philadelphia, Jackson drilled the ball into the seats at Connie Mack Stadium for a three-run homer, only his second of the season. But it was enough to cement a spot in team history.

The last Brooklyn Dodger to hit a home run.

Jackson, who went west with the team the next season when the Dodgers arrived in L.A., died Wednesday [March 20] at his home in Athens, Ga. He was 93, the oldest Dodger.

Decades passed before it ever dawned on Jackson that he’d become part of the franchise’s lore with the home run. And even then, it was only after his son heard it as a trivia question one day on “Good Morning America.”

“I did not know that myself till then,” Jackson told the Athens Banner-Herald.

Jackson arrived in Brooklyn just as Robinson’s career was winding down. He said he felt intimidated stepping in for such a legendary figure, a man who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier and whose physical skills were simply staggering.

In contrast, Jackson — 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds — described his skill set as “nothing spectacular.”

He’d spent six years with the Chicago Cubs, putting up solid numbers and twice being voted to the All-Star team. The year before coming to Brooklyn, he hit 21 homers, a personal best.

The media was waiting for him when he arrived in New York, the hired hand here to take over for Jackie.

“The media smelled blood and treated my competition with Jackie like it was a prize fight … Robby vs. Jackson, Ransom vs. Jackie or Jack vs. Jackson, pick your favorite headline,” he wrote in his autobiography, “Handsome Ransom Jackson: Accidental Big Leaguer.” “There was no fight or feud, but it was entertaining reading.”

The two became tight friends as Robinson played out his final games in a city stung by the Dodgers’ decision to uproot the team and leave Brooklyn and Ebbets Field behind.

“It was a cozy little stadium where the fans were as entertaining as the players on the field,” Jackson said of the Brooklyn ballpark.

Ransom Joseph Jackson Jr. was born Feb. 10, 1926, in Little Rock, Ark. His father was in the cotton business and prospered until the stock market crash wiped him out.

Jackson described an idyllic childhood, fishing the Mississippi River, playing baseball with a rolled-up sock and in the evenings listening to the local minor league affiliate — the Little Rock Travelers — on the radio. In high school, he ran track and played on the golf team. Later, at Texas Christian University and then the University of Texas, he played football and baseball.

The following year, Chicago drafted Jackson and he played for the Cubs for six seasons before being traded to the Dodgers. He played one season in L.A. when the team — still minus a stadium — played at the Coliseum. He later played for Cleveland and had his final season in Chicago. He had 103 career home runs. Following his baseball career, Jackson opened a life insurance business.

Jackson is survived by his wife, Terry, and six children.

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May he rest in peace._________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

Last edited by dodgerblue6 on Sun 3/24/19 7:41 pm; edited 2 times in total

Now here's someone with a real sense of making history, going back over 70 years.

From the L.A. Times:

"Art Mazmanian, Star on USC's First College World Series Title Team, Dies at 91"
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MAR 22, 2019 | 6:40 PM

Art Mazmanian, an All-American second baseman on Southern California's first College World Series championship team in 1948 who later coached future major leaguers, has died. He was 91.

The university said he died Friday in San Dimas, a Los Angeles suburb. No cause was given.

Mazmanian was a four-year letterman at USC. He started at shortstop as a freshman in 1945 and at second base in 1948 and ‘49. In 1948, he joined Wally Hood and Hank Workman as the school's first baseball All-American first team choices.

In the 1948 College World Series title game against Yale, Mazmanian went 3- for-3 with a sacrifice and a run scored. It was the school's first-ever NCAA title in baseball.

Future President George H.W. Bush played first base for Yale in that game.

In 1949, Mazmanian helped the Trojans return to the CWS, where they lost in the semifinals.

After college, Mazmanian played in the New York Yankees organization from 1949-54, making it to Triple-A.

He returned to his alma mater, Dorsey High in Los Angeles, where he coached football and baseball for 13 years.

In 1968, Mazmanian became baseball coach at Mount San Antonio Junior College, where he had just two losing seasons in 31 years. He coached such future major leaguers Doug Bird, Ron Roenicke, Rob Nelson, Brett Tomko and Terry Clark.

While at Dorsey and Mount SAC, Mazmanian spent 18 summers managing in the minor leagues for the Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Athletics. In 1984, he was an assistant for the U.S. Olympic baseball team that won a silver medal. He also scouted for the Athletics and Cleveland Indians.

He ended his coaching career as an assistant at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College in 2016 at age 88.

He is survived by son Stephen and daughter Nancy, who worked in baseball public relations for USC and the Angels. Shirley, his wife of 55 years, died in 2007.

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Rest in peace. (Or, fight on!)_________________"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."